Category Archives: News

Lawsuits alleging business websites and mobile applications have violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) are expected to rise sharply in the wake of the United States Supreme Court’s recent decision to deny Domino’s Pizza’s (“Domino’s”) petition for a writ of certiorari.

On September 26, 2019, a jury returned a verdict for the defense in the matter of Barbara Earnest v. Sanofi Aventis U.S. LLC and Sanofi US Service, Inc., in the Eastern District of Louisiana. The trial was presided over by Judge Jane TricheMilazzo, beginning on September 16, 2019.

Relying upon the common law, New Jersey courts have long utilized additur (adding to a jury’s excessively low damages award) and remittitur (reducing a jury’s excessively high damages award) when the trial judge concluded that there had been a miscarriage of justice, and that the verdict’s award amount could not reasonably be sustained by the evidence.

New Jersey hospitals are required by the Patient Safety Act (“PSA”) to establish multidisciplinary patient safety committees, to help evaluate the facilities’ patient care and safety practices. Among these committees’ obligations are to perform self-critical analyses, called a “Root Cause Analysis,” when there is a “serious preventable adverse event.”

In an unpublished decision the New Jersey Appellate Division held in Mark Ragnacci v. Medhat Ghaba, a verbal threshold motor vehicle accident case, that the defense was permitted to cross-examine Plaintiff’s medical expert regarding a report he authored in Plaintiff’s prior workers’ compensation action.

In the recent case of Salas v. Adirondack Tr. Lines, Inc. (172 A.D.3d 775 [2d Dept. May 1, 2019]) the Appellate Division, Second Department ruled that a bus operator was not required to provide assistance to a disembarking passenger who neither requested assistance, nor was she visibly disabled.

In the recent case of Salas v. Adirondack Tr. Lines, Inc. (172 A.D.3d 775 [2d Dept. May 1, 2019]) the Appellate Division, Second Department ruled that a bus operator was not required to provide assistance to a disembarking passenger who neither requested assistance, nor was she visibly disabled.

The Supreme Court case of Haines v. Taft, 237 N.J. 271 (2019) held that uncompensated medical expenses incurred as a result of an automobile accident, that exceeded the plaintiffs’ $15,000 PIP (Personal Injury Protection) coverage limits, were inadmissible and therefore not recoverable in motor vehicle negligence actions.

New Jersey’s Appellate Division issued an unpublished decision in Antoinette Marra v. Hopatcong Senior Center, et al., holding that Plaintiff, Antoinette Marra’s significant physical injuries and resulting depression did not constitute extraordinary circumstances excusing the filing of a late notice of claim under the Tort Claims Act.

In an August 15, 2019 published decision, captioned Jodi Shaw, et al. v. Brian Shand, et al., A-5686-17T1, the New Jersey Appellate Division reversed a trial court’s grant of partial summary judgment to a licensed home inspector, finding that home inspectors could be liable under New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act (“CFA”), N.J.S.A. 56:8-1 to -210.